Summers have just set in and air conditioners are already witnessing a robust growth in demand. While, new launches have led to the overall growth in air-conditioners for Samsung Electronics by 78% in February this year, for LG Electronics it is the boom in construction-led industry that has led to a growth of 21-22% in its total sales of air-conditioners (ACs) during this month vis-?-vis February 2007.
?With the onset of summers, there has been a whole new range of products available in the market. Moreover, with ACs being a very seasonal product, people are fast gearing up to prepare for summers and hence there has been an overall growth of 78% in the total sales of ACs in the month of February,? said R Zutshi, deputy managing director, Samsung India Electronics.
Adds V Ramachandran, director (sales and marketing), LG Electronics, ?Lot of housing and commercial projects are under way and this is leading to a good growth in the overall air conditioner industry with LG witnessing a 21-22% surge in volume in February this year. This is despite the fact that the country witnessed an extended winter in 2008 and sales actually picked up only in the last 15 days. ?The company has sold 60,000 units in February alone, of which window ACs account for 55% and split ACs the remaining 45%.
?On the backdrop of rising income level and hence growing affordability, the air conditioner industry is anticipating a growth of 30-40% in 2008 over last year, a huge chunk of which will come during the traditional peak season starting from March and extending till May,? added an industry expert.
According to industry estimates, overall 1.9 lakh units of ACs have been sold in February this year as against 1.6 units sold during the same period last year, a growth of 18.75%. Industry is expecting the sales to go up to 2.50 million units this year.